Corpse found on Benalmadena mountain

Jose Romero Benitez had been missing since leaving his home on the morning of September 17. According to his family he had been taking medication for depression before finally being found dead on Mount Calamorro.

The grisly find is the fourth of its kind on the Costa del Sol this year after Guardia Civil officers unearthed two dismembered corpses in the countryside in Arenas and Mijas in August.

Agents are looking at lists of missing people from the last several years to try to identify the bodies, which were found on the same day in two different towns. Police believe the corpses were dismembered after death by animals and explain they do not show any signs of violence prior to dying.

A worker found the first body in Mijas after noticing bones and alerting the authorities who were able to confirm the skeleton was human and was missing part of its skull. Scientists at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Malaga performed forensic tests on the body, ascertaining the deceased had died at least two or three years before.

Later the same day, a resident in Arenas found a human head, calling the Guardia Civil who sent officers to find the rest of the remains, which had been broken apart by animals. An autopsy at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Malaga was performed, finding the man had not been dead long, due to his state of decomposition.

An investigation showed the bodies had not been subject to any violence and there was no evidence any third party had been involved in either of their deaths. Guardia Civil officers are now focusing their efforts on identifying the bodies and are using missing person’s files in the province to see if any details, including descriptions of clothing or physical features, could give them a clue to their identities.

Officers say although their investigations remain at an early stage, they have already found two missing people who match some of the characteristics of the deceased found in Mijas and Arenas.

In June it was reported officers from the Civil Protection Service were investigating whether the death of a 70-year-old Norwegian man found in the woods in Mijas who was killed by multiple bee stings caused by negligent beekeeping.

The man’s body was found by a female dog walker a day after he went missing. He was said to be wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and was found with his top covering his head and multiple bee stings to his body. Investigators are not sure why the man was stung but say it is certain he walked past a hive, was stung, tried to flee but died about 400 metres down the path.

Pathologists said they cannot be certain whether the man suffered from an allergy but say he was stung enough times that a lethal amount of apitoxin entered his blood stream, prompting anaphylactic shock.